Rory McIlroy remains in the Masters by the slightest of margins, after what can generously be described as an interesting Friday at Augusta.

Let's see … he nearly hit defending champion Adam Scott with a shot. He finished the day with two double bogeys. He played a shot out of the bushes on the 10th hole and another out of the azaleas on No. 13.

He finished with a 77, leaving him parked on the cut line at 148 and 11 shots behind leader Bubba Watson.

Realistic about his chances, McIlroy said: "It will take something phenomenal, to shoot something in the mid-60s, and get myself back under par going into the last day."

Had he not made a par putt on No. 18, McIlroy would have joined the nine other members of golf's top 25 in packing out of Augusta.

"I didn't know what that putt on the last was, to make the cut. But when I got into the scoring area and saw that I was in 46th place, it was a bit of a sigh of relief that I'm here for the weekend," McIlroy told The Irish Times.

McIlroy's Saturday round of 71 matched his Thursday score. Unless disaster befalls more than 30 golfers ahead of him on the leaderboard, he would be nowhere near a green jacket this weekend.